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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26800189">among late-blooming roses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsolitaParvaPuella/pseuds/InsolitaParvaPuella'>InsolitaParvaPuella</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(well it's a delayed war), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No War (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Arranged Marriage, Awkward Conversations, Awkward First Times, Awkward Romance, Awkward Sexual Situations, Bad Sex, Communication, F/M, Loss of Virginity, they're trying their best</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:36:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,609</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26800189</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsolitaParvaPuella/pseuds/InsolitaParvaPuella</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Annette and Felix attempt to figure out how this marriage thing is supposed to work.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. no one is steering the carriage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title brazenly stolen from Lisel Mueller's <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54643/romantics">"Romantics"</a></p><p>this fic supposes an alternate universe where, somehow, war hasn't broken out yet, but everyone is pretty sure it's coming soon, and so all the students are rushing into matches or being rushed into matches. a lot of set-up for annette and felix being awkward virgins, i know. happy kinktober &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Annette Fantine Fraldarius wasn’t entirely sure what to say. What could one say to a former schoolmate who became one's spouse shockingly soon after graduation? At the wedding she only had to say “yes”, “I will”, and then repeat some vows. Easy. She barely had to think about it, which was good, because she had still been attempting to understand the proposal when the wedding came around.</p><p>It wasn’t like this was the only match made in a hurry. It was as though no one had done their homework, and the exam was coming. Years of courtship were being done in months. She’d gotten wedding announcements from classmates all over Fódlan. Everyone could feel it coming.</p><p>Annette didn’t think about it. Whatever was coming wasn’t here yet. She had some time left to wrestle with what precisely was happening in her own life. What was happening was that Felix was sitting opposite her in the carriage, staring out the window as though something of intense interest was out there. </p><p>“So… how many swords did you bring?” Annette asked, desperate for something to fill the silence. There was a nervous song in the back of her throat she was desperate to keep sealed up.</p><p>“Huh?” Felix looked at her. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was seeing. He didn’t look particularly happy, but she’d deduced that was just what he looked like at rest.</p><p>“You have one sword here,” she pointed to the blade sitting quietly by his leg, “but that can’t be the only one, right?”</p><p>“I have enough,” Felix answered, staring at her intensely. “Nothing to worry about.”</p><p>Annette didn’t want to squirm. She already felt immature and silly, no need to make Felix regret this match even more. “There’s such a thing as enough?” she asked, before she could stop the words from coming out.</p><p>Felix smirked at her. “Yes, there’s such a thing as enough swords. It’s not the only thing I think about, you know.”</p><p>“Could’ve fooled me!” Annette wanted to leap from the carriage. She might meet her doom on the rocky, uneven roadside, but surely that would be better than this. “So, how long until we get there?”</p><p>Felix looked out the window again. “Half an hour, maybe a little more. Nothing to worry about.”</p><p>That caught Annette’s attention. What was there to worry about? Her own tremendous social failings, perhaps, but the burden of that fell harder on him than her.</p><p>It took subtly sitting on her hands, but Annette was able to calm herself down. There was a logic puzzle she’d been reading about the other day, when she was still a Dominic, and she was certain if she could solve it she’d find new avenues in her spellcasting. For a few minutes at a time, she was able to toy with the riddle of what state of matter fire could be, before jerking her mind back from worrying about Felix and his unsettling stillness. </p><p>Their destination was a cottage owned by the Fraldarius family, though rarely used. Small enough to require only the services of one maid and a cook, who had gone out ahead to ensure the cottage was ready for the newlyweds. The Duke, now her father-in-law, had offered them the proper summer house, a second home with gardens and maintained ponds and distance from all the troubles of modern life.</p><p>Felix had turned that down before his father could finish his offer. He preferred the cottage. So to the cottage they went. In Annette’s opinion, it was a charming little thing, built right into the edge of the woods. A signpost pointed to the nearby town; it would not be a quick walk to get there, but the possibilities were intriguing.</p><p>Stepping inside, lugging a carpet bag she’d filled with a few more books than she was supposed to, Annette’s assessment of the cottage continued. No signs of vermin or pests, but also no sign of insulation from the cold. Then again, it was the height of summer. Even in Faerghus, she doubted it could get cold enough to be a problem. A narrow staircase led the way up to the master bedroom, while the rest of the amenities were on the ground floor.</p><p>Annette pointedly ignored the bedroom and got to work unloading her books into the sitting room, where a half-empty bookshelf was waiting for her. Felix seemed content to leave her to her business, going up the stairs and then coming down without his travelling clothes. The plain shirt sleeves and trousers he wore made it harder for Annette to ignore the wedding ring he was also wearing.</p><p>Her ears felt hot, so Annette turned her attention back shelving her books properly. Fire, she had determined, was not a solid, though it could contain some kind of solid fuel at its core. But the fuel was not the fire itself. This she understood intuitively; fire fuelled by oil or magic had no solid source, and yet was still fire.</p><p>Over dinner, Annette made a decision. She didn’t remember what she ate, being too busy trying to keep her stare away from Felix, and trying to determine what string of words would get her intentions across the best. She was still planning what to say while preparing for bed, until she was standing in the bedroom in her nightgown and staring at the door.</p><p>Felix walked in, his shirt half unbuttoned. Annette might’ve stared—she hadn’t seen a boy her own age so undressed since she was a little girl—but she had a mission.</p><p>“Felix!”</p><p>He flinched, eyes wide. “What?”</p><p>“Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, I just—” She’d already gotten off-track. “I mean, I know this whole thing went super fast, and I’m not a very good wife yet, but I want to be.”</p><p>“A good wife? Annette, you’re fine,” Felix said, walking towards her slowly. His hands came up, like he was trying to calm her.</p><p>“No, I’m still really awkward and clumsy. But I’ll keep trying. And I know that one of our duties out here is consummation, so we should probably do that.”</p><p>“Consummation?” Felix was turning pink.</p><p>“Since we didn’t get a water marriage, we’re not fully married until we—” She gestured vaguely. Felix seemed to understand anyways.</p><p>“If you don’t want to, it can wait,” he said.</p><p>“I do want to,” Annette answered, the response entirely automatic. But, to her surprise, she did want to. What happened in the marriage bed was something she understood in technical terms, and in floaty prose, but she’d never connected the two ideas in her head. Somehow, sexual intercourse and making love referred to the same thing.</p><p>Annette was nervous, and she wasn’t entirely sure what she felt for Felix with all her emotions knotted up with their rushed marriage, and she had no idea what Felix felt for her. But she was also curious. And this was her first real chance to know. She swallowed hard.</p><p>“You want to?” Felix didn’t sound like he quite believed her, too astonished.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“I’ll just… get ready,” he said, his hands on his shirt buttons once again.</p><p>“Oh!” Annette turned away, sitting on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her thighs together a little, trying to ignore the sound of Felix changing into a nightshirt. Her heart was pounding and she felt hot and excited and nervous. Like she was about to take her mage exam again, or about to try a difficult spell for the first time.</p><p>“You can look, you know,” Felix said, prompting Annette to turn around. Felix stood there in his nightshirt. His posture made her think he wanted to spar, but his face was clearly hoping for some escape. An unusual fold in the nightshirt caught her eye for a moment, until she realised what it meant. Felix looked away from her.</p><p>“Are you ready?” he asked. He sat down on his side of the bed. It was surprisingly plush and cozy, perhaps the one bit of luxury in an otherwise simple house.</p><p>“I think so,” Annette replied. She wasn’t sure what more could be done.</p><p>Felix leaned in suddenly and kissed her once softly, one hand stroking her hair for a moment. Annette’s heart pounded. She fell back into the pillows, and Felix got on top of her. She hitched up her nightgown, leaving herself exposed below the waist. She didn’t dare look down, instead watching Felix above the shoulders as he struggled to arrange things. He looks as out of sorts as her. It was comforting to know he was just as lost as her, but she was also worried that it meant no one was steering the carriage.</p><p>Something warm bumped up against her, pressing a little low, then a little high. Felix grumbled above her. Then there was pressure in the right spot. It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel particularly good either, as Felix slowly penetrated her. Before getting all the way in, he pulled back and then pressed in again. There was friction, but none of the sparks or bursts of pleasure written about in the saucier books she’d read.</p><p>Above her, Felix groaned. The sound did something that sensation hadn’t to this point. She wanted to hear it again. For a moment, she felt really good.</p><p>There was less friction and more thrusting. It felt nice, one hard thrust shocking a squeak out of her. Annette closed her eyes, trying to find the white-hot pleasure this was supposed to bring. Suddenly, Felix made a choking noise that was both arousing and alarming, and pulled out. Annette felt something warm hit her belly.</p><p>She had to change her nightgown, though she had thankfully brought several. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to leave the soiled nightgown for the maid to wash with the rest of the laundry. The maid and cook knew as well as her and Felix what the purpose of this trip was supposed to be, but it still felt rude. After a moment of worrying, she draped the nightgown half in and half out of the laundry basket.</p><p>When she returned to bed, Felix was looking at her intensely. Not much had really changed between them in the last twenty minutes, but Annette couldn’t help but think something big had changed without her noticing. It took a while to fall asleep, nervous that her snoring might disturb Felix on the other side of the bed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. at least they were confused together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Annette goes for a walk.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>man there are no good words for losing one's virginity. they all suck. ugh.</p><p>brief interlude here for conversations, we'll return to awkward nerds trying (and failing) to bone next chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Annette woke up with the early sunrise, her thighs shockingly slick. For a moment she was certain her monthly courses—only just passed—had returned three weeks early. But there was no blood between her legs, only arousal. There were some tantalizing hints in the back of her head of a good dream, but nothing she could hold onto. The other side of the bed was empty. Annette considered herself an early riser, but she was certain Felix was already eating breakfast, or even outside getting some morning training in.</p><p>Annette let herself enjoy the luxury of the large bed all to herself for a few minutes longer. If she’d had the foresight to bring up a book last night, she probably would have started to read by the lovely early-morning light. Summer mornings in Faerghus were easily the best time and place to be alive.</p><p>Dressed and refreshed, Annette went down to find the breakfast table empty as well. The absent cup and plate on one side told her that Felix had already been and gone. Fine, she would have breakfast by herself. She ate bread and jam and tea, turning over the riddle of fire in her mind again. Not a solid, of course. That she was confident about. But fire seemed to possess the qualities of both liquid and gas, and yet why would something as elementary as fire be so confused. It seemed absurd.</p><p>She didn’t feel like crossing paths with Felix quite yet, so after breakfast Annette settled down into one of the old chairs with the first volume to catch her eye. The maid unlatched and opened the windows, letting the fragrant summer air into the cottage. She also refreshed the flowers decorating the sitting room. Annette forced herself to stay seated and reading. This was meant to be a holiday (if one with an obvious ulterior motive) and she would treat it as one.</p><p>After an hour of reading and interrupting herself to glance at the front door, Annette went upstairs and straightened out her clothes in her travelling trunk. In a fit of frustration, she straightened out Felix’s clothing as well. Then she went back downstairs, picked up her book, and read for thirty minutes without absorbing a single word of the text. Felix was still out.</p><p>“I’ll head out for a stroll,” Annette called to the maid.</p><p>“There’s a wonderful little path to the lake around back, just mind the route. It’s a little treacherous,” she answered.</p><p>Annette gave her thanks and was in her outdoor boots and out the door as fast as propriety would allow. The mid-morning air was warm and comforting. The woods the cottage backed onto gave the air an earthy scent. No rain recently meant the ground was dry, with no mud patches to slip on or lose a shoe in. She followed the pathway of trampled grass around to the back of the cottage. Felix was a short distance away, his back to the cottage, training his footwork. Annette watched for a moment. He was back in shirtsleeves and trousers and nothing else, his sleeves even rolled up above the elbow.</p><p>It was a lot of skin showing. Annette had to pull her eyes away, reminding herself that last night they’d done something a lot more saucy than showing some elbow. She was being silly. </p><p>The path to the lake was as the maid said, leading from the back of the house into the woods. The path wasn’t especially well-maintained, but it hardly mattered when it was so wide. An open, one-horse carriage could easily ride down it. Still, the canopy of trees touched, giving her complete shade. Annette started to sing, some new lyrics about her recent change in status coming to mind. Last week she was a Dominic, and now she was a Fraldarius, but she certainly didn’t feel any different. Last week she’d been a virgin, and now she was fully a wife, but that didn’t feel any different either.</p><p>The lyrics were rough, and needed some work. Annette mumbled to herself as she walked, struggling to find a kinder word than “deflowered” to describe herself. The path wound a little, turning this way and that to avoid a patch of stinking muck and go around a thicket of birdberries, neither of which could easily be cut down and turned into a walking path. That kept her from completely getting lost in the words.</p><p>She hopped over an awkward tangle of tree roots, and then Annette was met with the sight of the lake. It was fairly big, hemmed in close on all sides by the woods. Except right in front of her, the trees stopped and the land sloped down into a rocky beach. The lake itself was vast and serene. A few waterfowl were floating gracefully up top, and there was probably an excellent stock of fish below. Even if there wasn’t a town nearby, the cottage could be kept well-stocked with just the lake and some forage in the woods.</p><p>Annette walked down to the beachhead. At the furthest part of the beach from the waterline, the rocks were large enough that she had to balance herself, stepping from stone to stone and wobbling precariously. Thankfully, it was only for a few steps, and the rest of the beach was made up of pebbles, ground smaller and smaller as she approached the waterline. </p><p>She stopped at the edge of the water, taking in a deep breath. The quiet here was nice. She wasn’t going to spoil it with a scream of frustration, though it was tempting. How was she going to survive more than a week here with so little to keep her busy? The maid and cook kept her from her usual energy sinks of tidying or cleaning. She couldn’t read for any length of time without thinking of Felix. And she couldn’t talk to Felix without twisting herself into silly little knots. Perhaps she would attempt a walk to town after all.</p><p>At the very least, she had to get through today. Lunch would be soon, and perhaps she could find a safe place to practice her spellcasting. Or maybe attempt throwing an axe or two. Then afternoon tea, and then she only had to occupy herself until dinner. Annette turned around. She could come back for a late afternoon walk and see if there were any berry patches near the edge of the lake.</p><p>She carefully walked back up the slope. She glanced up and saw Felix coming towards her, and the rock under her foot wobbled terrifyingly, and her ankle turned, and Annette went tumbling backwards. She’d had more elegant spills in her life, though the loose pebbles cushioned her fall better than she would’ve guessed.</p><p>“Ahh!” she squeaked as she hit the ground.</p><p>“Annette?” Felix shouted, and she could hear him running closer.</p><p>“Felix! What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing herself up to sitting. Her ankle throbbed. Of course.</p><p>“You fell. Did you hurt anything?”</p><p>“That doesn’t answer my question,” Annette fussed.</p><p>“That doesn’t answer <em>my </em>question,” he answered, scowling.</p><p>“My ankle hurts.” She leaned in and rolled down her sock, showing her still smooth ankle. Felix raised his hand and white magic dripped from his fingers. It landed on her skin with a feathery, ticklish touch. Annette couldn’t help but giggle.</p><p>“What?” Felix asked, looking a little surprised.</p><p>“Your magic tickles. Hasn’t anyone told you?”</p><p>“No, they didn’t.”</p><p>“Well, it does. Mercie’s feels like water, and the Professor’s feels like sparks, and yours tickles.”</p><p>Felix huffed. “Any better?”</p><p>Annette tried moving her foot. It still hurt, a lot. “No, still hurts. Must not be injured, just sore.”</p><p>“I’ll carry you.” Felix looked dead serious as he said it, as though their circumstances were dire.</p><p>“Wait!” Annette protested. “Can we just—enjoy the view? For a minute?”</p><p>Felix shuffled forward, sitting next to Annette. She turned around awkwardly, finally facing the lake again. It really was beautiful. Her ankle throbbed again. They sat in silence for a minute or two.</p><p>“I heard you singing. I haven’t heard it in a while, I wanted to keep listening.”</p><p>For a moment, Annette bristled. But—what was Felix going to do? They were married. If people thought she was a silly girl who sang silly songs, it wouldn’t reflect well on him either. Sending a letter to Leonie or Dorothea to tell them about her silliness was so petty she couldn’t imagine anyone doing it. She couldn’t quite believe he could have an interest in her songs, but more nefarious motives were rendered impossible now. Wedded and bedded, nothing short of the Archbishop could come between them. </p><p>“Oh,” she said, trying to capture a school year of anxieties in the sound.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>The silence was awful.</p><p>“Annette… are you afraid of me?” Felix asked, sounding almost small.</p><p>“What? No,” Annette answered, the words again coming out of her mouth before she could think. And just like the night before, they were true, in a roundabout way. Felix had never been unkind to her before. If she could only figure out the right way to act around him, she might even be able to relax. “I’m… I don’t know how to do this. I thought I’d have a lot more time to think about marriage. I wasn’t sure I wanted it. Staying single, working at the Royal Academy, that could’ve been good.”</p><p>“Oh.” Felix sounded even smaller.</p><p>“Not that I dislike this!” Annette protested immediately. “If I had to get married, I’m glad it’s someone like you. You’re honest, and we’re friends.”</p><p>“But you might have picked a different life if given the choice.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t you?” She looked over at Felix and it was like seeing him clearly for the first time. He was wearing his thoughts on his face. Confusion, conflict, all kinds of mixed feelings. She felt a bit of selfish relief. At least they were confused together.</p><p>“I didn’t think about it,” Felix finally said. “I knew I would have to get married, but I wasn’t thinking about wooing anyone at the Academy, even though my old man probably wanted me to find a nice girl and get married right away. I would’ve put it off longer, but…”</p><p>“An heir and a spare, right?” Annette asked.</p><p>“Yeah. Even Sylvain and the boar are getting pushed into matches. War’s coming soon. Everyone can feel it.”</p><p>A chill ran down Annette’s spine and a breeze came from over the lake. She shivered a little, which seemed to bring Felix back into the moment.</p><p>“We should go back to the cottage, so you can put your ankle up and read about math, or whatever you reason mages do.”</p><p>“You’re also a reason mage! A really good one!” Annette argued.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me,” he said, getting to his knees. Without warning, he picked Annette up in a bridal carry. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to steady herself. Her heart pounded for a second. Just from surprise, probably. Felix’s grip was steady, and while the return trip was a little slower, it was still quite lovely.</p>
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